I am also guilty of washing my hands too often and they start to dry out. I leave hand cream all over the house so I don't forget to use it! I use disposable plastic gloves for messy jobs/jobs with chemicals, they're very cheap from Poundland or household/hardware shops - or you can use plain old rubber gloves. Ecover do antibacterial wipes, I get them from Sainsbury's.

Speaking to a doctor or pharmacist definitely sounds like a good idea.

I guess it's about keeping things in balance. Grey squirrels are lovely in themselves, and their intelligence can make them fun to watch, but they can also be a nuisance. Much like the jackdaws, they're intelligent and interesting to watch but can eat more than their fair share. I try and avoid using pesticides and would be very grateful if the birds ate more of the slugs and snails!

Below is a picture of our nectar bar border in the sunshine today. We started it in autumn 2012, and we're really pleased with the way it's shaping up - the chives and harebells are very popular with honey bees at the moment.

The one issue is that the hollyhocks are being ravaged by rust, so we're considering replacing them after this year. For such a small border though, they do a great job of adding height, and I'm a bit stuck for ideas. Can anyone think of something that may work? We're going for informal but not too wild, and are open minded about what sort of customers we attract. The soil is improved clay, and it's partial shade. The garage wall faces roughly south and the back fence roughly west.

Whilst I'm a big advocate of protecting red squirrels, living no where near any myself the main problem we have with the greys in our garden is that they eat such a lot of the bird seed, and when theyr'e there the birds don't get a look in. We're trying chilli pepper in the seed today to see if that works as an uncomfortable but harmless way of dissuading them.